It may not look like it now, but boating season on the ocean is approaching.

With the City Council’s final passage this week of the harbor rules and regulations for moorings, mooring permits and anchoring boats, water sport enthusiasts will soon have a more systematic plan in place with better waterfront access.

It may not look like it now, but boating season on the ocean is approaching.

With the City Council’s final passage this week of the harbor rules and regulations for moorings, mooring permits and anchoring boats, water sport enthusiasts will soon have a more systematic plan in place with better waterfront access.

The council passed its last review Tuesday night. Pending Mayor Will Flanagan’s committed signing of the law, it will go into effect 20 days after the ordinance appeal period.

It will be the first time written rules and regulations will be given out with mooring permits and be available to all boaters.

The regulations apply to “all moorings, floats, mooring tackles, as well as vessels moored or docked” in city waters.

Marinas, yacht clubs, public recreational boating facilities and individuals are all subject to the rules. That includes Battleship Cove.

According to Assistant Corporation Counsel Christy DiOrio, who wrote the 18-page ordinance with Harbormaster Bruce Bannister and the prior harbormaster, Roland Proulx, the changes are not significant.

But they eliminate “indecision and ambiguous practices,” DiOrio said.

A one-year waiting period after not using a mooring to acquire another one is the most significant change, she said.

There are also $5 and $10 bumps in commercial and individual mooring fees, now $55 and $35, respectively.

The harbor rules and regulations, in conjunction with a “seasonal mooring plan,” are part of efforts to reverse what some officials have labeled Fall River’s bad reputation as an unfriendly harbor.

A transient boat dock, allowing for a minimum of 15 moorings — but likely fitting closer to 30 or 40 — between The Regatta and the City Pier, should be built by summer for public waterfront access, according to Bannister.

“I’m looking forward to accommodating anybody from Rhode Island, from Boston, from anywhere. Come down to Fall River and enjoy our new waterfront,” said Bannister, one of the biggest boating boosters, in a recent interview on the Taunton River.